Hemp (also referred to as industrial hemp) is primarily grown for industrial purposes and can be used to make a variety of commercial and industrial products including ropes, textiles, clothing, paper, food, bioplastics and insulation. Flowers, seeds, leaves, roots and stalks of hemp may be used as raw industrial materials.
Hemp and marijuana both derive from the Cannabis Sativa family. They share some similarities but also have crucial differences in their compositions. For example, when compared with marijuana, industrial hemp has a very low content (0.3% or less) of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is known to induce psychoactive effects (i.e. getting a user “high”). In addition, hemp is abundant in CBD, a phenol substance, which decreases or eliminates the psychoactive effects of THC. Hence, CBD may be used for medicinal purposes, in skin products or as food or supplements to promote general health and well-being of a subject. At present, clinical research on CBD includes studies of anxiety, cognition, movement disorders and pains. It would be desirable to obtain CBD having a very low or no detectable THC content. However, current technologies for the production of CBD show a low production efficiency in this regard.